Monday, November 3, 2008

Yup, I Signed Books During the World Series

I lucked out. I scheduled my first book signing in Wilmington, DE months ago. I debated different dates, working around weddings I had invites to (as you know, I have many), family parties and anniversary celebrations. And the one thing I didn’t consider was, “Hey, if I book a signing for the end of October and the Phillies make the playoffs, they could be in the World Series that night.” I’m from Philadelphia; we don’t anticipate for championships.

But by some sheer act of scheduling magic, my first book signing miraculously fell on the day right after Game Two and before Game Three. The publishing Gods were smiling on me, the Phillies had the night off, and I had a wonderful turnout for my first signing.

My parents drove up from Baltimore and many second and third cousins (on my Puerto Rican side, how fitting) drove down from the Philly suburbs. Even my parents’ childhood friends showed up, some of whom have known them since grade school. And I must thank my husband’s coworkers who came out in droves.

It was really nice to see all those friendly faces. They helped to get the crowd going with some interesting questions like, “Do I ever plan to write a book in Spanish?” Right now, no. My Spanish isn’t good enough. But hey, maybe one day I’ll move back to Spain for a year and give it a shot—wouldn’t that be nice?

Also, I was told by the Barnes & Noble store manager that my book sales for the evening “far exceeded their expectations.” Yay! Everyone at B&N was super nice, and look at the lovely the displays they had for me.

Thank you to everyone who turned out! Also, I’m happy to report that Amigas and School Scandals has officially launched! It’s in stores now, and I even have proof! Khyrinthia sent me this photo of the book on a shelf!

In honor of the debut, I’ll be hosting a book signing this Friday! Come out and see me:Borders Book StoreSpringfield, PA1001 Baltimore Pike (Near the Springfield Mall)November 7, 20088:00pm610.543.8588

I’m also happy to announce the final winner of the Amigas and School Scandals October Giveaway Extravaganza.

The winner is… Liviania! Congratulations! You have won the last ARC of Amigas and School Scandals!

The Final Question was: In my Amigas and School Scandals flipbook, it says that Lilly moves to Spring Mills. Once there, what does Lilly “instantly” become?

The Answer is: Popular

We have now entered the Grand Prize Finale! This Friday, I will announce the winner of the Finale Prize Pact, which includes:--A personalized signed copy of Amigas and School Scandals (the final version that’s in stores)--An Advanced Reader Copy of Adios to All the Drama--And two exclusive Amor and Summer Secrets bookmarks.

To be entered to win, you must send me the link to where you posted my Amigas and School Scandals Flipbook. Post it anywhere on your blog, website or MySpace page, and if you embed the link, you are entered to win FIVE times.

This isn’t a rant, but a major CHEERS! Friday marked our city’s first parade in 28 years, and I’m so proud of how well we represented! The crowd was estimated to be in the millions, and I want to give the city mad props (yeah, I used that phrase) for letting the parade spontaneously extend from the scheduled 1.5 hours to more than 5 hours. It was so worth it. My family and I (my dad drove up from Baltimore) watched from Broad and Fitzwater, and then we all WALKED three miles to the Linc (with two kids) to watch the Phillies do another lap in the Eagles stadium.

I also wanted to extend a HUGE thank you to the extremely nice woman who met us while walking home from the stadium (again, three miles) and offered to give us a ride to my house. Seriously. My dad, brother, husband and I got into the car of a complete stranger. She drove us home out of the goodness of her heart because inept SEPTA (there’s my ‘rant’) was too incompetent to have enough trains running to accommodate a few million people. Thank you, random South Philly lady! You saved my legs some major pain! And the next time any of you hear about how rude Philly fans are, remember that random lady. Some of us are very nice. :)

And tomorrow’s election day! Don’t forget to vote! Not like you could with all the commercials and robocalls out there. Go Barack!

Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Diana Rodriguez Wallach’s debut young adult novel, Amor and Summer Secrets, is the first in a three-book series published by Kensington Publishing in 2008 and 2009. In addition to writing, Diana is a pop-culture junkie: everything from primetime to soaps, ew.com to The Soup, The Hangover to Slumdog, and Gossip Girl to Jane Austen. She’s loves it all and loves to rant. Enjoy!